THE LAW OF LIFE MEANS “NOT I, BUT CHRIST” “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20a).” You may be interested in knowing how the Lord taught me to live according to the Law of Life. I learned from the Scriptures that Christ lived in me, and I had no life of my own. I understood that Christianity is not about trying to be like Jesus, but is about Jesus Himself living in me and through me. This is what is called the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. So then I realized that it is not about me at all, my weakness, or my feelings one way or the other. All that mattered was Christ in me, doing what I cannot do in myself. As I was taking a shower one morning the Spirit began to repeat to me over and over again, “Trust in My Life! Trust in My Life!” I thought that was too easy to do, Christianity must be more difficult than this. But this soft Voice was persistent. It was not a command, but a challenge. Finally I agreed to trust in His Life, and I went about my business. It was not long before the first test came. I did not like to wash dishes, but the first thing my wife asked me to do that morning was wash the dishes. Oh no! Immediately I clenched my jaws together and felt my blood pressure rise. You must understand that I used to have a temper which once caused me to slam a car door so hard that I broke the glass out of it. So my natural response to this dirty kitchen was to explode and say that I was too busy and besides, it is not my job anyway! That was my first thought. But at that exact moment I recalled what the Spirit had been telling me: “Trust in My Life!” So I went to the Lord, not outwardly, but inwardly, and said, “I cannot clean this stupid kitchen! I have better things to do. I hate this dirty job. Nevertheless, I trust in Your Life to do in me and through me what I am unable and unwilling to do myself.” Neither my feelings nor my emotions went away, but I obediently began washing the dishes, and waited to see what, if anything, would happen. I cannot say when exactly it happened, but at some point I became conscious of the Law of Life taking over and washing those dishes. What was at first a repulsive thing soon became a joyous occasion, and I began to smile. I realized that it was not I, but Christ, Who was doing this chore. It was almost as if I was observing myself doing it, marveling at how well it was going, but at the same time, incredulous that it was so easy! It was like riding a bicycle for the first time, when you finally “get it”, and you wonder why it took you so long to figure it out. The dishes were soon done and the kitchen was cleaned, but the lesson learned that day stayed with me forever. It convinced me that Jesus Christ lives. I know that Jesus lives because Jesus washed those dishes! That was more proof to me than a thousand sermons. I could not do what I just did. Or to be more correct, I could do it if I forced myself to, but I could not do it with such joy and peace! It was not so much the outward thing that was done as it was the spirit and manner in which it was performed. My Christian life changed from “What Would Jesus Do?” to “Watch What Jesus Does!” Now you may think that is a silly example, but we must begin with baby steps. There is no need to go out and put yourself through a major test. If you cannot pass the smallest of tests, what makes you think the larger tests will be any easier? It is not the size of a thing that matters, it is learning the lesson of the Law of Life. The Lord was not trying to teach me about doing housework, but was teaching me how to cooperate with His Life. The Law of Gravity brings objects to the ground. It does not matter to Gravity how large or small the object is. It works the same with acorns as it does with airplanes. Likewise, I know today that it does not matter if I am called upon to wash dishes, mow the lawn, write an article, preach a message, cast out a demon, love my neighbor, forgive my enemy, or lay down my life. It makes no difference to the Life. It is not I, but Christ, who does these things. The principle is the same, and the Life cannot fail. If I give up my life, if I give up my self-effort, then He begins to do what I cannot do. This is Christianity. The Law of Life means that I do not try to be or do anything in my own strength. Instead, the Life leads me, the Life instructs me, and the Life gives me the words and the actions. I am not a Christian because I believe in the Bible, follow the teachings of Jesus, and live a good life. I am a Christian because Christ is my Life. Since Christ is my Life, I no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in me. I do nothing to achieve this, it just is. Because He lives, I live. In Him I live; in Him I move; in Him I have my being (Acts 17:28a). Again, let us make this practical. Does a fish become a fish by swimming under the water, or does it swim under the water because it is a fish? Does it say to itself, “I am a fish, therefore, I must learn to act like a fish. I must remember to breathe through my gills and move my body back and forth.” Absolutely not. Or what about a bird? Does a bird become a bird once it learns to fly through the air? Or does it fly through the air because it is a bird? Which is it? Of course, the bird is a bird, and therefore it flies. It does not have to be instructed per se, but when it is pushed out of the nest it flaps its wings. It is its nature to do so. So doing does not create being, doing flows out of being. Now the Law of Life in Christ does not try to make us into something we are not. The very presence of the Life in us demonstrates that Christ already indwells us. We are not trying to be like Christ, and we are not trying to live like a Christian. Since we ARE in Him, we WALK in Him. Our works come from what we are, not what we are trying to be. We do not receive His Life so that we can work very hard to be like Jesus. That is like the fish having to remind itself that since it is a fish therefore it must swim. Or, like a bird having to keep telling itself through positive confession that it must remember to fly. Yet Christians keep reminding themselves, “Now that I am a Christian, I must remember to read the Bible, pray, and live a holy life. I must not forget to love my neighbor and smile no matter what happens.” Can you see the problem here? With this mentality we cannot cooperate with the Life, because we would be depending on our life instead of His. This is why we cannot look for a method, formula, or technique to try and teach people spirituality. It is like taking a bird and putting it in a school to teach it to fly. Just let the bird go and it will fly all by itself! Why do we not take a fish and give it a technique for swimming? You know very well that when you drop the fish into the water it will just swim away of its own accord. But we try to teach Christians three keys to spiritual growth, or four principles of Christian living, or seven ways to overcome, or a ten-step process to this thing or that thing. What we should be doing is letting these people loose and allowing them to discover how wonderful this Life in them is, how the Christ Who indwells them will teach them everything.
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 08:16:47 +0000
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